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Obiora Okafor

The son of an Ibo lawyer Okafor studied, practiced and taught law in Nigeria before coming to Canada. He won a scholarship to the University of British Columbia, earned two graduate degrees and joined Osgoode Hall Law School in 2000.

At Osgoode, Obiora lectures on international human rights law, human rights in Africa and the international law of south-north relations.  In 2010 Professor Obiora Okafor was awarded the prestigious nationwide, 2010 Prize for Academic Excellence by the Canadian Association of Law teachers.

He is the first African and black person in history to receive a top Canadian nationwide award for academic excellence for his outstanding contributions to legal research and teaching in Canada and around the world.

His most recent research projects include a study of human rights activism in Nigeria and a comparison of refugee rights in Canada and the United States post 9/11.

He is also affiliated with York’s Centre for Refugee Studies, the Harriet Tubman Institute and the Graduate Program in Socio-Legal Studies.

Okafor has also served as an expert panelist for the UN Working Group of Experts on People of African Descent and a human rights consultant for the British Department for International Development. He has been a visiting scholar at the International Institute of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France, and in Harvard Law School’s Human Rights Program.

Professor Obiora Okafor was recently elected to the advisory committee of the United Nations Human Rights Council. He hails from Ukpo, Dunukofia Local Government Area of Anambra State.

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